List of French cheeses

This is a list of cheeses from France. Traditionally, there are from 350 to 450 distinct types of French cheese grouped into eight categories 'les huit familles de fromage'.[1] There can be many varieties within each type of cheese, leading some to claim closer to 1,000 different types of French cheese.[1]

In 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle was famously quoted as saying "Comment voulez-vous gouverner un pays qui a deux cent quarante-six variétés de fromage?" ("How can you govern a country which has two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?")[2]

A complete list of agricultural products with an EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), or Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG), listed alphabetically by nation, is at the Europa Agriculture website.[3]

French cheese production is classified under four categories, and PDO/AOC rules dictate which category(ies) each protected cheese may be assigned to:[4]

Fermier: farmhouse cheese, which is produced on the farm where the milk is produced.

Artisanal: producer producing cheese in relatively small quantities using milk from their own farm, but may also purchase milk from local farms.

Coopérative: dairy with local milk producers in an area that have joined to produce cheese. In larger coopératives quantities of cheese produced may be relatively large, akin to some industriel producers (many may be classed as factory-made[5]).

Industriel: factory-made cheese from milk sourced locally or regionally, perhaps all over France (depending on the AOC/PDO regulations for specific cheeses).

56 cheeses are classified, protected, and regulated under French law. The majority are classified as Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC), the highest level of protection. Some are also protected under the less stringent but still legally regulated designation Label Régional (LR). A few French cheeses are protected under the European Union's Protected Geographic Indication designation (PGI). Many familiar generic types, like Boursin, are not covered. It may come as a surprise to see varieties of Emmental cheese protected as a French cheese. This list differs from those of AOC status.